Page 11 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

Max chuckled. "Hunting. What else?"

She uttered an incredulous snort. "Was I prey?"

He pinned her with a hard stare. "You were much more than that to Din."

"Please." Jasmine lifted a hand to stop their banter. "If you want me to tell the story of how it all started, you will have to discuss your past later."

Nodding, Fenella crossed her arms over her chest and cast Max one last glare before turning back to Jasmine. "I'm sorry for interrupting. Please continue."

Jasmine took a deep breath, glanced at Ell-rom, and then shifted her gaze to her mother. "Humans are not the only intelligent race of people on Earth. The gods of mythology are actually aliens who came to Earth from another planet. At first, they only came to mine for gold. They needed it for their technology, their space travel, and some other uses. I don't know the timeline, but I think they first arrived about half a million years ago and jump started intelligent life on Earth by combining their genetic material with some type of protohumans. An echo of that story can be found in the Bible, but that's not where our story begins."

Max was surprised that Jasmine had started with the least proven part of the gods' story, but perhaps that was the part she found most fascinating.

"Our story begins with a rebellion on the gods' planet," Jasmine continued. "I won't go into the details of the rebellion because it's not really relevant to us at the moment, and it's a whole different rabbit hole, but the result was that the rebellion was quashed, and the rebel leadership was exiled to Earth. They formed a small community in Sumer and started teaching the population the lofty ideas they brought with them, making Sumer the first advanced civilization on Earth. That wasthe birthplace of all of Earth's major mythologies and later religions."

She scanned her small audience. "So far everyone good?"

Kyra nodded. "It sounds like a science fiction movie, but it also echoes the Biblical narrative, so I'm good with it."

Fenella seemed to approve as well. "So, the gods are living in Sumer and teaching the natives to be civilized. What's next?"

Max loved seeing them both intelligently engage in the conversation. It was a good sign that the drugs they'd been given hadn't fried their brains.

"The gods had a problem," Jasmine continued. "There were too few of them to provide genetic variety, and since all contact with the home planet was severed, they had to find a solution with what was available on Earth. They had to take human partners. The children born of those unions were the first immortals, or demigods, or giants as they were called in the Bible. Only the word giant was a bad translation from the original Hebrew." She chuckled. "Since the gods came in all sizes, some tall and some short, their immortal offspring were not particularly statuesque."

"What was the correct translation?" Fenella asked.

"The original word was Anakim, which was interpreted as giants. But Ankh represents the breath of life, or immortality, and therefore Anakim literally means immortals."

Fenella let out a slow breath. "Wow. I love this. So, Kyra and I were sired by gods? I'm pretty sure that my parents were ordinary humans. They are both gone now."

"You are the descendants of gods, but your parents were human. Your mothers carried the godly gene, but I'll get to that later. I didn't finish the story yet. When the immortal children of the gods took human partners, their children were born human, and the gods thought that their experiment was a failure. But then they discovered that the children of female immortals could be turned immortal. The children of the males could not, unless the mother was an immortal or a dormant carrier of the godly genes. The rest of the story is that the godly genes kept being passed on from mother to daughter throughout the generations, and there are many Dormants living among humans who can be activated but are unaware of the secret genes. They don't show up on any of the scans and are probably hidden among what is called junk DNA. Anyway, the two of you were dormant carriers, and both of you got activated by chance."

"How do those genes get activated?" Fenella asked.

Here it comes. Max shifted in his seat, considering ducking away to the bathroom to give the ladies privacy, but a wink from Jasmine communicated that he could stay.

"It's something that involves both biology and a bit of luck, or maybe fate." Jasmine reached for the water bottle, took a sip, and put it back down."It is a sensitive matter that requires context, especially when one is told after the fact."

"After the fact?" Fenella asked. "What do you mean?"

Jasmine turned to Max. "Maybe you want to tell her? Since you were most likely the one who induced her transition?"

That was an underhanded trick, and Max cast Jasmine a glare that communicated his displeasure.

"We are all adults here, Max," Jasmine said. "You don't have to be bashful."

"Right." He turned to Fenella. "So, here's how it works. Immortal males have fangs and venom glands. They use those for two very different functions. In battle, the venom is used to incapacitate an opponent, and in sex, it provides females with incredible orgasms and euphoric trips. In order to induce an adult female Dormant, an immortal male needs to have unprotected sex with her and bite her. Sometimes once is enough, and other times several attempts have to be made before the transition is triggered. You were on the pill when we had sex, so we didn't use condoms, and I must have induced your transition. Do you remember being very sick for a few days after I left and noticing changes that didn't make sense?"

Fenella's eyes were as wide as saucers. "I was sick. I had the flu, and I grew an inch in height, and no one knew how it could be possible. Our doctor said it was just a rapid growth spurt. But that wasn't the only thing. I could hear things from far away, see much farther than before, and I got freakishly strong. I always thought that it was the virus that caused all those changes, and I was afraid that if people knew that about me, I would be turned into a lab rat. That was why I left home." She cast him an accusing look. "Do you think I wanted to leave? I didn't. I wanted to stay in Invery, meet a nice guy, and start a family. It's all your fault. You ruined my life!"

He glared back at her. "I gifted you with immortality."

"I don't want it!" She sounded almost hysterical. "It's brought me nothing but trouble. Why do you think that monster had me locked up and…" She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry," he muttered. What else could he say? He hadn't meant to induce her. "If I'd known, I would have taken care of you. I had no idea. That never just happens. We've spent many centuries looking for Dormants and found none."

"Well, you found me, fucked me over, and disappeared." Fenella crossed her arms over her chest. "Thanks a lot, Max."

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